AI-based medical diagnostic services set to debut in Japan

Medical diagnostic services using artificial intelligence are set to be introduced this year in Japan, where the adoption of information technology in health care has been slow, sources said Monday. The private Showa University in Tokyo together with Nagoya University and Cybernet Systems Co. have jointly developed software that analyzes colon polyps shown in images taken during endoscopic examinations. Using a vast amount of past diagnostic data, the software can determine whether such polyps are malignant. It has been proven reliable -- with an assessment determining that it can identify a potentially cancerous polyp with the same accuracy as a leading specialist -- and approved for commercialization by the government. LPixel Inc., an image analysis service venture, has produced a program that spots cell degeneration in the cerebrum by examining images taken during a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.